Content:

(PaPaPa, B, LL, VVV, SS, MMM) Very strong mixed pagan worldview that, in the context of the horror film genre, tries to make an important point that’s somewhat moral about a serious subject – the consequences of incest – but that has a disgusting, depressing twist and ending that’s ultimately abhorrent rather than uplifting or edifying; eight obscenities (including one “f” word and some “s” words), four strong profanities, seven light exclamatory profanities; some very scary, intense, and even disturbing violence include young woman stalked in house by malicious unknown invader, woman’s father and uncle are attacked, implied incest, family member deliberately kills another family member in vicious manner, characters have bloody wounds; implied incest plot, including mysterious flashbacks that later become clear, leads to a depressing ending that’s ultimately disturbing and disgusting rather than enlightening; no nudity; alcohol references; no smoking or drugs; and, plot also turns out to involve madness and emotional disturbances as well as very negative family dynamics wherein one family member fails to protect another family member from incestuous abuse.

Summary:

SILENT HOUSE is an independent, low budget horror thriller about a young woman, her father, and her uncle being stalked in a family summerhouse by one or more menacing home invaders. Though impressively shot, SILENT HOUSE has a disgusting, depressing twist and ending that makes it just another abhorrent horrorshow.

Review:

SILENT HOUSE is an independent, low budget horror thriller about a young woman, her father, and her uncle being stalked in a family summerhouse by one or more home invaders. The movie focuses solely on the girl’s experience in what looks like only one unedited shot, which is impressive. However, there’s a disgusting twist at the end that changes the viewer’s whole perspective.

The movie opens with Sarah helping her father and uncle fix up the family summer lake house to sell it. The summer home has been suffering from vandals when the family is not there.

Sarah has a mysterious encounter with a childhood friend from the area, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Shortly after that, her uncle drives to town to get some supplies. Then, a mysterious invader attacks her father, who disappears. The camera follows Sarah has she tries to evade the stalker, who may have an accomplice. It also follows her as she searches for her father.

Eventually, Sarah finds her father, who’s been wounded in the head and knocked unconscious and rather delirious. She escapes to get help, but runs into her uncle driving back from his short trip.

Sarah pleads with her uncle not to return to the house, but he wants to go back to help his brother, her father. Now, the stalker is menacing both Sarah and her uncle. An unpredictable twist shows something else is going on entirely.

MOVIEGUIDE® has no objection to inserting a twist into a scary story. However, the twist here is so disgusting that it turns what was an intense, perhaps even positive, thriller into a very disturbing tale. Also, the twist leads to an ending where none of the three family members survives fully intact. Thus, SILENT HOUSE ultimately becomes disturbingly anti-family and loses the positive vibes it was building in the first two acts. The disgusting ending makes SILENT HOUSE another abhorrent horror thriller, just like far too many of its contemporary movies. The filmmakers are clearly trying to make a statement about a serious subject, but their resolution of the plot problem is extremely depressing as well as offensive.

Given the movie’s ending, it’s noteworthy that the original movie from Uruguay on which this movie is based is itself based on a sad, depressing story about three family members found dead in a house, the victims of an apparent murder/suicide. The problem is, the filmmakers behind SILENT HOUSE seem to just exploit this awful story rather than provide any real enlightenment, even though they seem to say the opposite of this in the movie’s production notes.

In Brief:

SILENT HOUSE is an independent, low budget horror thriller. Sarah is a young woman helping her father and uncle fix up the family summerhouse to sell it. Sarah’s uncle leaves to get some supplies. Then, a mysterious invader attacks her father, who disappears. The camera follows Sarah as she tries to evade the stalker. Eventually, Sarah finds her father, who’s been wounded in the head. She escapes to get help, but runs into her uncle driving back from his short trip. She pleads with him not to return to the house, but he wants to go back to help his brother, her father. Now, the stalker is menacing both Sarah and her uncle.

SILENT HOUSE is filmed in only one shot, which is impressive. It has an unpredictable twist at the end, which shows something else is going on entirely. However, the twist is so disgusting that it turns what was an intense, perhaps even positive, thriller into a very disturbing tale. Also, the twist leads to an ending where none of the three family members survives fully intact. The disgusting ending makes SILENT HOUSE just another abhorrent, depressing horrorshow.